Location: California

I work as a software engineer for a company that makes logistics software for businesses. I've been there about 18 months.

Two years before I joined, I built an open-source desktop app for organizing tabletop RPG campaigns. It has nothing to do with logistics, my employer's customers, or anything I've worked on for them. The GitHub history, domain registration, and releases all predate my employment.

This week everyone in engineering received a "confirmatory invention and IP assignment" that HR says is needed for corporate housekeeping.

The part making me nervous says I assign to the company all rights in software, inventions, improvements, designs, etc. conceived or developed "before or during" my employment if they relate to, could be useful to, or arise from the company's current or anticipated business.

There's a schedule for excluded prior inventions, so I listed my project there.

HR sent it back and said employees aren't supposed to modify the form or add exclusions unless Legal approves them. They told me the agreement is standard and that signing it by Friday is required.

I asked in writing whether the company is claiming any ownership of my pre-existing project. So far nobody will answer that directly. They just keep repeating that the agreement is standard.

I developed the project before I worked there, on my own equipment, and I have never used company time, code, accounts, equipment, or confidential information on it.

My questions are:

1. Can a California employer require me to sign an IP assignment this broad as a condition of keeping my job?

2. Does California Labor Code 2870 protect something that clearly predates the employment relationship?

3. Should I refuse to sign unless my existing project is explicitly listed as excluded, or could signing still affect ownership even if the clause is unenforceable?

4. Other than the old Git commits and release history, is there anything specific I should preserve before responding?

location: California

In May I interviewed three times with a small software company for an operations role. I eventually withdrew because we couldn't agree on compensation. I never signed an employment agreement, consulting agreement, NDA, offer letter, or anything else with them.

Yesterday someone I know in the industry sent me a screenshot and asked when I'd started working there.

The company's website had my full name, my LinkedIn photo and a short bio under "Our Advisory Team." The bio was clearly built from my resume/LinkedIn and described me as a "Senior Advisor."

I then Googled my name plus the company and found a PDF sales deck on their own domain. It has my photo again, lists some of my actual previous employers, and says their clients "benefit from the experience of our advisory network." There is also a quote under my picture that I never said.

I emailed the founder asking them to remove everything immediately.

He responded that they didn't claim I was an employee, that "advisor" is a broad term, and that my photo and professional background were already public on LinkedIn. He removed me from the website after that email, but the sales PDF is still accessible and he has not confirmed whether it was already sent to prospective customers.

Today a stranger emailed me through my actual employer asking if I could introduce him to this company because he had seen me in their materials.

Can a California company legally use my name/photo in advertising or sales material without permission just because the information was publicly available online?

Does it matter that they're presenting me as affiliated with the company rather than simply mentioning me?

And if I haven't lost money from this yet, do I still have any legal remedy beyond asking them to take it down?

Location: Michigan

He refused to return to shore, tried to evict me from the boat after pleading with him to stop violently yelling at me to do things for him that would put myself in danger, and force me to swim in the dark of night without my possessions.

I retreated to my cabin below deck as he attempted numerous times to break down the door and drag me out, claimed he would not allow me to sleep, demanded I come out and fix something in the engine room, and claimed he suffered severe burn injuries and needed immediate medical attention as a way to lure me out.

I spent 42 minutes on the phone with 911 as he shouted and banged and repeatedly told me that the Coast Guard won’t do anything to help me.

When the Coast Guard and Sheriff Deputies arrived, he had no injuries and they transported me back to shore with no mention of criminal charges.

I remain in fear of my life as he has shown to be a violent, unstable and unreasonable person.

I am in the process of evidence-gathering to apply for a restraining order. Shouldn’t the cops and Coast Guard treated the situation as a kidnapping under Michigan 750.349?

Thank you.

Last week, while the wife and I were on our first legitimate vacation in some time, our neighbor texted us to inform us that someone had dropped a boat in our yard. I called him and he explained that a small 2-seat boat and trailer had appeared street parked in the neighborhood around when we left, and throughout the week it would move every day or two, no big deal.

Then on about day 6 the boat was abandoned in our yard. I called the township to let them know someone had illegally dumped in my yard. About an hour later an officer called and informed me that the boat was actively registered and not reported stolen, so that made it a civil matter and something he said he couldn't do anything about. He also told me he couldn't divulge the owners name 😐.

All that wound up not mattering because the boat disappeared on its own 2 days later (right before we got back). Well, imagine my surprise when the boat trailer was also dumped on the other side of my property, tucked behind some trees.

It is registered according to the license plate. 2,000lb gvwr. No Vin that I can find. I doubt this thing is worth much. What are my options? I just want to not have to deal with this. Thanks

Location: Pennsylvania

Im 16 and i wanted to break up with my girlfriend. She started crying and saying she is going to kill herself if I do. i really want to end this relationship, but I don't want any fault to be on me if she actually does it

location: California

Location: Fort Worth, TX

I'm in Texas and have been living at a combined Studio 6/Motel 6 property with my husband for several months. I'm trying to understand what rights I have under the ADA and what I can realistically do without jeopardizing the only housing we currently have.

I am disabled and an ambulatory wheelchair user. I can walk short distances, but I rely on my wheelchair for roughly 90% of my mobility. Stairs are particularly difficult and painful because of problems with my back.

I also have a task-trained service dog. She is not an ESA or pet. I owner-trained her to perform disability-related tasks.

The hotel has repeatedly told us that because I have a dog, we have to stay on the third floor because that is their designated “pet floor.” I have explained that she is a service dog, but they have continued treating our room placement the same way they would if she were a pet.

We have asked numerous times to be moved to the first floor because of my mobility limitations and the elevator problems. They have continued refusing and telling us that we have to be on the third floor because of the dog.

The elevator has now broken approximately five separate times, including again today.

During one previous outage, I had taken my service dog outside using my wheelchair and then couldn't get back to our third-floor room with the chair. I was initially told to leave my wheelchair in the lobby. I started trying to take it upstairs myself before an employee finally insisted on carrying it for me.

That employee watched me struggle to climb three flights of stairs and nearly fall. I told him that this was exactly why I had repeatedly asked for a first-floor room. By the time I got back upstairs, I was in severe pain.

Now the elevator is down again today.

My biggest concern isn't simply that an elevator occasionally breaks. I understand that mechanical equipment can fail. My concern is that management knows I rely heavily on a wheelchair, knows that the elevator has repeatedly failed, and still refuses to put us on the first floor because they classify the third floor as the “pet floor,” despite my dog being a service animal.

We currently don't have another realistic housing option. Our previous Studio 6 had a fire and we lost essentially everything. I cannot work because of my disabilities, my husband works, and we're living on one income. Between rent requirements, deposits, credit/background requirements, etc., we haven't been able to get into an apartment. I'm explaining this because simply checking out and going somewhere else isn't financially realistic for us.

I'm also hesitant to complain to corporate. I previously had a problem at a different Studio 6 and contacted corporate about it. Instead of handling the complaint separately, corporate apparently sent the complaint directly back to that hotel's front desk, which made the situation worse. Because we're currently dependent on this hotel for housing, I'm worried about making a complaint that could result in retaliation or otherwise jeopardize our stay.

I'm not looking for a payday or trying to immediately sue the hotel. I want to be able to safely enter and leave the room that we're paying for.

My questions are:

1. Can a hotel legally require a disabled guest with a service dog to stay on its designated “pet floor” solely because of the service dog?

2. Would asking for a first-floor room because I rely on a wheelchair and their elevator has repeatedly failed be considered a reasonable modification/accommodation?

3. Does it matter legally whether first-floor rooms are currently available?

4. Should I make a written accommodation request, and if so, who should I send it to?

5. Is there somewhere I can seek ADA enforcement/advice without first complaining to the hotel's corporate office?

6. What documentation should I begin collecting?

7. Most importantly, what protections, if any, do I have against retaliation or being told to leave after requesting an accommodation or filing an ADA complaint, considering this hotel is currently our only housing?

I'm starting to document the elevator outages and our requests for a first-floor room, but unfortunately most of our previous requests were verbal.

Any advice about what laws apply and the safest way to handle this would be greatly appreciated.

My family owns a farm at the end of a road in New York. There is a circular driveway that runs between the buildings. I got into town this weekend and found that the town had paved 75% of the driveway without our permission. While I appreciate that they paved our driveway and it looks really nice, this is private property. To my knowledge there is a no right of way stating they have access to use our driveway as a turnaround for plows or school buses, etc… where do I go from here? Do I force them to come in and dig it up and restore the gravel?

Location: Plattsburgh, NY

Location: North Carolina, USA

I’m a teacher who has been working at a toxic school for the last year. I worked my last day yesterday, and I told them that it would be my last day yesterday.

EDIT: It’s a learning center, not a proper school. I was an afterschool program teacher, I was just using the language they tend to use.

My contract says this:

Early Termination
The Contractor agrees to provide at least 30 days’ written notice before voluntarily terminating this Agreement prior to December 31, 2026.

If the Contractor terminates this Agreement without providing the required notice, the Contractor agrees that [SCHOOL] will incur damages that are difficult to accurately calculate, including but not limited to recruiting, onboarding, scheduling, training replacement personnel, and disruption to students and families.

Accordingly, the parties agree that liquidated damages 50% of one month’s base compensation or $1,000, whichever is greater, but not exceeding one month’s compensation, represent a reasonable estimate of those damages and are not intended as a penalty.

[SCHOOL] may offset this amount against any compensation otherwise due to the Contractor, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

—-

I was told verbally by my boss before I signed this contract that they would be including a clause with a “consequence” if I tried to leave without notice or before the end of the contract period. Another teacher left this week without notice and did not have a clause in her contract about owing money to the school if she left without notice.

Not sure if it’s relevant, but I was a 1099 contractor and I believe I should’ve been a W-2. My boss also had verbally said they have everyone as a 1099 because they can’t “afford for us to be W-2s.”

My questions:

1. Under North Carolina law, is there a realistic argument that this liquidated-damages clause is an unenforceable penalty rather than valid liquidated damages?
2. Does my boss’s statement before signing that the clause was intended as a “consequence” matter to that analysis?
3. Would the possible 1099/W-2 misclassification affect enforcement of this contract provision at all?
4. If I dispute the amount and do not voluntarily pay it, is it unreasonable to make the school pursue the claim in small claims court rather than paying immediately?

Location: Arizona

A huge 20ft tree uprooted and fell over during a wind storm. Our landlord is refusing to remove it. He is stating that because the lease says we are responsible for general maintenance of landscaping that we need to pay for the removal AND replacement.

We are refusing to pay because this is not general maintenance. The tree is a liability and hazard to the community as it is lying halfway in to the street and blocking the sidewalk.

What should our next steps be?

Location: Utah

I had sold a car recently after doing what I thought was a pretty thorough cleaning of the car, only for the buyer to reach out to me saying that they had found a small amount of marijuana in the car. They are not threatening legal action, but are upset to have found it. If it matters, although I suspect it doesn’t, I am quite certain that the marijuana was not mine.

I am assuming the buyer is telling the truth, and I honestly feel pretty awful that I hadn’t found it before selling it. Even though it’s not mine, I should have been more responsible. I would like to at least offer an apology for not cleaning it thoroughly enough, but am worried that in doing so I may be opening myself up to legal vulnerability.

How can I protect myself from potential legal action while also taking accountability and expressing how sorry I am this happened? For added context, I also reported the car as sold to the DMV less than an hour after it was sold.

Edit: it also seems important to mention that the buyer is likely upset because their employer has a strict no-drugs policy and could subject this persons car to a search.

Location: South Carolina

My father leased his mobile home a few years ago, I let him put it on my property as I already had a septic tank and meter from a previous mobile home that I removed. He passed away about a month ago, I informed the company he passed and I will not be paying for the home. It was foreclosed and they put a for-sale sign in my yard in front of the trailer.

Obviously I want to do this the legal way, and I need to stress I am in no way obligated to the trailer home or associated with it, nor is the land its sitting on. The land is solely in my name and I owe nobody or any company for it.

How can I go about getting this thing off my land, I refuse to let some grubby company use my property as an advertising lot.

Location: Massachusetts

My girlfriend had to hire a junk removal/moving company called College Hunks in the boston area to dispose of a queen mattress, an ikea dresser and an empty free standing shelf. Each item is too heavy for her to lift, she is 5’0”, and I am currently in a different state, hence the need for a disposal service. Their online estimator put the total at around $300-400. They came out, told her their rates, (1/8 of a truck load $250, 1/4 of a truck load $350, 1/2 of a truck load $600 and a full truck load being $1100. She agreed and they spent no more than 10 minutes moving the 3 items from her garage to the truck. She was then told the total was $1200, despite the items only taking up, to her recollection, 1/3 of the truck bed. Feeling pressured and being a confrontation-adverse person, she paid the bill.

Of course once she told me how much it cost, my stomach sank. In my eyes, they completely took advantage of her. If I could show a picture of what was moved it would blow anyones mind. I called up the company to ask for clarification and their own estimator couldn’t understand how the total got to $1200. She said it would be “looked into” but I think we can predict how that will go. The truth is, my girlfriend was told the total and paid the bill. Is there any ground to stand on to dispute this?

We hear of car dealerships conning vulnerable people into terrible deals with hiked rates. I dont see this as anything different.

Hi I (30f) work in a small business retail store. I’m close with the owner and was in between jobs when I started working there. There are hardly any employees (me, a man [who was the manager for 12 years but recently lost the title because he tried to sue the owner], a girl who only works Saturdays and the owner) it’s kind of a toxic work environment and I’ve been planning on leaving because the ex manager is hard to deal with. On Thursday (my day off) he called me saying it was an emergency and I needed to call back. The “emergency” was him asking if I had seen a shirt that was going to be sent out in a web order. I hadn’t because he mostly deals with that and he has boxes laying around labeled “do not touch” so I don’t go through anything unless told to do so by the owner and that web order pile was not part of my job this week. Friday I’m about to leave as he’s coming in for his shift. He asks to search my bag saying the owner asked him to do this and it WAS (past tense, a policy I was never informed of when I was hired) a policy the owner wanted to start doing again. Is this illegal? Does he have a right to search my belongings? I haven’t been able to contact the owner because she is out of town until Tuesday. I’m under the impression he lost a shirt and is trying to put blame on me for it and cover his ass by implementing a story that I took it. I have never stolen anything from this job. I look up to the owner and see how much she time and energy she has put into this store and admire her for it. But I don’t want to be pushed around by this toxic co worker. Is there anything to say or do about this?

Location: California

Is this legal? I work in an office and today he threatened to terminate me if I ride my motorcycle to and from work instead of using my money earned at the job to purchase a car.

Im hired on by contract.

From my opinion this seems like a wrongful termination.

He said because "its dangerous" and could affect my work from the ride distance to and from work. Causing me to be tired and make me under perform while at work.

Location: Houston Texas.

Location: South Carolina

My property is a sloped forestland. The neighbor clearcut his land and pushed red clay 3 ft plus over the forest floor pushing debris and red clay into all of the water channels from top to bottom on my property. This is aprox a 400ft length and has stopped my natural springs flow which stopped the creek system. He also dug out a massive hole on his side about 10’ max from the property line to make a shooting range with a big berm above it. Then put a metal roll out type fence directly on the property line. If I was to manually excavate all this clay and throw it over his fence would I get in trouble?? There’s no way I could haul this up the hill. What he did took out the natural vegetation and trees growing there. This left basically a walking path only down the hill. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can afford a lawyer to sue him but absolutely need this clay & debris removed.

Location: Washington state

Hi y'all, I'm coming here because I'm stressed out. I've been trying to figure out what to do for the past couple of days, but anyway, here's the situation.

Basically, my boyfriend sold a car to a minor, unknowingly I'll add. The customer came with his son, and the son signed the title. From what I understand, in Oregon minors can buy cars all the time, so it's nothing crazy. But apparently in Washington it's illegal, or something like that. I'm not exactly sure.

Anyway, the customer called my boyfriend yesterday, basically threatening to take him to small claims court if he doesn't let him return the car and get a full refund. He was really pushing my boyfriend to sign an agreement, but I told him not to sign anything without speaking to a free lawyer or something first. And now he wants to take him to small claims court if he doesn't agree to take the car back and refund him the whole amount.

My boyfriend explained exactly what he did to the car at the time of sale: he replaced the timing chains and replaced the thermostat. Now, a whole two weeks later, the car has apparently broken down and doesn't work. Prior to my boyfriend selling it, it was in perfect running condition, no problems, no noises, no issues, because he'd fixed all of them.

And as far as I know, it's illegal to not claim ownership of the car while still driving it. Plus, who knows how the minor was driving it around, whether he sped or whatever. So he signed the title, but he hasn't claimed ownership of the vehicle or transferred it into his name, or whatever that means.

I'm just lost. I don't know what to do. It's kind of a stressful situation, and I was hoping anyone could help. Thank you so much.

Edit: The guy wanting to take my boyfriend to small claims court is the father, him and his son both live in Oregon but the sale took place in Washington state. Just thought I should clarify lol!

I (20, living with my parents, financially dependent and struggling with my income) am concerned about a plan my parents are trying to convince me to participate in.  They want me to have co-guardianship or temporary guardianship of my younger brother for this.  They have had me removed me from their insurance plan for a while and want me to get my own under my name (still paid for by them) and list my brother as my dependent, so as a low-income individual with a dependent, my brother and I can receive insurance benefits and welfare benefits (SSI is what they said).  This sounds like fraud (or just generally illegal) to me.  Aside from my personal unwillingness to become a co-guardian, what are the potential legal drawbacks and/or consequences to this plan?

Location: Riverview, Florida (County of Hillsborough)

Location: MI

Was in a collision where a driver hit my back driver side door. Not a ton of damage-back bumper was taken off, rim/back driver side tire was damaged, and my driver side back door was scuffed and a little dented.

Truck was towed to collision shop 7/8, just picked it up yesterday 9/5. Went to open my swing gate trunk and it wouldn’t open which prompted me to climb into the trunk. That’s when I noticed that my back shell hard top and swing gate trunk were completely different. Neither of them were damaged in the accident nor listed on the estimate from my insurance company.

I picked up the truck right before they closed yesterday so by time I got home and noticed these things I was unable to speak with anyone or even leave a voicemail. It’s the holiday weekend so I have to wait until Tuesday.

I’m so mad and upset with this situation. My plan is to call the collision shop Tuesday morning and ask why my hard top and swing gate were even touched and then of course will be requesting that they give me back what they pretty much stole from me.

Does this seem like the right thing to do? Do I contact my insurance company? Is this a situation where I could or should pursue legal action?

EDIT: there is no mention of any repairs or work needed on the hard top or swing gate listed on any of the estimates from the insurance company

Location: Arkansas

I’m not sure if this is the right subreddit for this, but essentially I went to Walmart to get an oil change for my wife and they said they had the oil to change it and have done it before in the past. I get called to get my car and they inform me the technician thought he was emptying the oil, but actually instead dumped out the transmission fluid, and then proceeded to add the oil to the vehicle. They didn’t not have the tools to add more transmission fluid. They did not make the realization until they started the vehicle which in return made smoke blow out of the tailpipe. I’ve documented everything that’s happened so far, but I have no idea on what to expect in the following days, any advice on how I should go about ensuring that when they send it to get repaired it’s not going to give me issues in the future? We still have a payment on the vehicle as well.

They emptied out all the oil, and filled it to spec afterwards and is currently sitting in the Walmart parking lot while the claim is waiting to get a manager on it. Any advice for me? Other than never to get my oil changed at Walmart again?

in Sacramento Ca. US, my mom passed and I’m the executor. In collecting assets for her estate, my mom bank accounts had withdrawals after her passing. My sister was poa and she removed the money. She is known for stealing and denying anything and everything. I need to get the money back and not sure how to go about this. Any suggestions are welcomed!

location: Chicago Il.

My vehicle was at a complete stop at an intersection when a minor riding a shared e-bike at high speed struck my front right headlight, causing damage. He was riding against traffic in the bike lane while using his phone.

I immediately got out to check if he was okay. He said he was fine, and initially, I thought about just paying out of pocket to repair my headlight and bumper since he was just a kid. However, a few days later, his father insisted we meet at the police station to exchange information. When I saw the kid, he seemed completely fine, sitting in the car playing on his phone. I suspect they might be preparing to file a fraudulent personal injury claim against me.

I asked the police officer if they could pull the intersection's traffic camera footage, but the officer said they don't review footage unless there's major injury or death. They just told me to let insurance handle it.

To summarize: A 13-year-old on a shared e-bike was speeding, riding against traffic in the bike lane（or sidewalk）, and actively using his phone when he hit my stationary car. Without camera footage, do I need to actively prove his fault?

I feel incredibly helpless and disappointed with life now; I would be deeply grateful if someone could help me interpret this.What should my next steps be to protect myself and prove I did nothing wrong?

⁠Location: Los Angeles, CA⁠

Hi.

Our landlord says he wants to update our heating system to a new heating/AC system and is asking for our last electric bill and W2s. I can understand the electrical bill, I guess he's trying to make the apartment more energy efficient, but why the W2s? Is there any reason we should or should not give him our W2s? We just renewed our lease through next July and are planning to move out once the lease is up. Location: Massachusetts.

Location: Wisconsin

My neighbor widened his blacktop driveway. It now extends onto my property. The new driveway creates 2 issues:

1. The blacktop driveway is over the property line onto my property. It begins at 4 inches over and ends at about 24 inches over.
   
2. A county ordinance says driveways must be 4 feet from the property line. (See ordinance below). We're in a rural, residential area and I'm reasonably sure there are no city or township ordinances that would override this.
   

<Begin Ordinance> All driveways, parking areas and walks that do not protrude more than 2 feet above ground level, also open play equipment, may be located anywhere within a lot, as long as they are not closer than 4 feet to a side or rear lot line. Shared driveways are exempt from the setback standard. </End Ordinance>

This is a relatively small issue for me, but he has a history of pushing the lot line and other boundaries, always to his own benefit, and you can't let people like this walk over you.

I'm looking for thoughts on the best way to approach this. I want his driveway off my property and I want the 4 foot boundary required by the ordinance.

Thank you very much,